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Lot Essay
The C-couronné poinçon was a tax mark used in France between March 1745 and February 1749 on any alloy containing copper.
G. de Bellaigue notes in the Waddesdon catalogue an identical angle mount also stamped with the C-couronné poinçon in the Musée des Arts-décoratifs, Paris, formerly in the collection of the marquis de Biron (sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 9-11 June 1914, no. 228, ill.).
THE ROTHSCHILD MEUBLES D'APPUI
It may safely be assumed, bearing in mind the number 6 inscribed on the top of one of the cabinets and the presence of an almost identical cabinet at Waddesdon Manor, that this pair originally formed part of a larger set. This set, presumably originally designed to decorate a library or connoisseur's cabinet, included not only this pair and the Waddesdon cabinet but also another, with a superstrcuture and veneered front centered by crossed LL's in ormolu. The latter cabinet, also from the collection of Edmund de Rothschild at Exbury, was with Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd. in 1949. The Waddesdon cabinet, originally acquired by Baron Ferdinand (1839-1898), builder of Waddesdon, discussed by G. de Bellaigue, op. cit., no. 36, pp. 176-7 7 has possibly been reduced in depth, being 1¼in. (3cm.) shallower than the pair of cabinets in this lot. This was inaccurately stated in the Waddesdon catalogue which claimed that it was deeper.
In all likelihood the set was acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898) and Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917), probably in the 1880s and split between them. It would appear that they often made joint purchases.
HAMILTON PLACE
The pair of cabinets sold in this lot are known to have been in the collection of Leopold de Rothschild in his London townhouse 5 Hamilton Place. This Italianate villa on what is now Curzon street, was modified from 1881 by the architect William Rogers from the existing house origianlly acquired by Leopold's father Lionel (see P. Prevost-Macilhacy, Les Rothschild bâtisseurs et mécènes, Paris, 1995, p. 342). The house, of grey stone, was particularly tall, Rogers having added two stories, and said to have been based on an annexe to the château de Chantilly. The ground floor incorporated an Italian Renaissance library leading to a dining room with white marble walls and crimson upholstery and curtains. The first floor contained two interconnecting drawing rooms decorated in the Louis XV style bordering a plant-filled conservatory (illustrated C. S. Sykes, Private Palaces, New York, 1986, p. 305).
THE EBENISTE?
Although the inspiration of these cabinets is strongly reminiscent of the work of BVRB around 1750, any attribution to this maker cannot be substantiated as no parellels may be found in his oeuvre for the marquetry decoration found on the sides of the cabinets or for the mounts. The high quality and conception point to only a handful of the greatest ébénistes of the period, such as Joseph Baumhauer, ébéniste privilégié du roi circa 1749. The sinuous shape of the cabinets allied with the strength of the ormolu mounts are reminiscent of the bureau plat by the latter, circa 1745-49, formerly in the Kotschoubey collection and now in the Louvre (A. Pradère, Les ébénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 174, fig. 156). They may also be seen as prototypes for the bureau pupitre à écrire debout attributed to Joseph and supplied in 1758 by the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux for the comte de Cobenzl (1712-1770), sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 84).
Joseph, like many of his fellow ébénistes by this time, including BVRB, worked extensively for the marchand-merciers of the period, such as Hébert and Lazare Duvaux, as well as for some of the great marchand-ébénistes such as Pierre II Migeon. The fact that none of these magnificent cabinets are stamped would make the intervention of a marchand in their commission extremely probable. Two pieces conceived in a similar vein to this pair of cabinets, both stamped by Migeon in his capacity as a dealer, include a marquetry cartonnier and a bois de bout marquetry commode from the Adby Collection, illustrated A. Pradère, op. cit, pp. 162 and 164, respectively.
G. de Bellaigue notes in the Waddesdon catalogue an identical angle mount also stamped with the C-couronné poinçon in the Musée des Arts-décoratifs, Paris, formerly in the collection of the marquis de Biron (sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 9-11 June 1914, no. 228, ill.).
THE ROTHSCHILD MEUBLES D'APPUI
It may safely be assumed, bearing in mind the number 6 inscribed on the top of one of the cabinets and the presence of an almost identical cabinet at Waddesdon Manor, that this pair originally formed part of a larger set. This set, presumably originally designed to decorate a library or connoisseur's cabinet, included not only this pair and the Waddesdon cabinet but also another, with a superstrcuture and veneered front centered by crossed LL's in ormolu. The latter cabinet, also from the collection of Edmund de Rothschild at Exbury, was with Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd. in 1949. The Waddesdon cabinet, originally acquired by Baron Ferdinand (1839-1898), builder of Waddesdon, discussed by G. de Bellaigue, op. cit., no. 36, pp. 176-7 7 has possibly been reduced in depth, being 1¼in. (3cm.) shallower than the pair of cabinets in this lot. This was inaccurately stated in the Waddesdon catalogue which claimed that it was deeper.
In all likelihood the set was acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898) and Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917), probably in the 1880s and split between them. It would appear that they often made joint purchases.
HAMILTON PLACE
The pair of cabinets sold in this lot are known to have been in the collection of Leopold de Rothschild in his London townhouse 5 Hamilton Place. This Italianate villa on what is now Curzon street, was modified from 1881 by the architect William Rogers from the existing house origianlly acquired by Leopold's father Lionel (see P. Prevost-Macilhacy, Les Rothschild bâtisseurs et mécènes, Paris, 1995, p. 342). The house, of grey stone, was particularly tall, Rogers having added two stories, and said to have been based on an annexe to the château de Chantilly. The ground floor incorporated an Italian Renaissance library leading to a dining room with white marble walls and crimson upholstery and curtains. The first floor contained two interconnecting drawing rooms decorated in the Louis XV style bordering a plant-filled conservatory (illustrated C. S. Sykes, Private Palaces, New York, 1986, p. 305).
THE EBENISTE?
Although the inspiration of these cabinets is strongly reminiscent of the work of BVRB around 1750, any attribution to this maker cannot be substantiated as no parellels may be found in his oeuvre for the marquetry decoration found on the sides of the cabinets or for the mounts. The high quality and conception point to only a handful of the greatest ébénistes of the period, such as Joseph Baumhauer, ébéniste privilégié du roi circa 1749. The sinuous shape of the cabinets allied with the strength of the ormolu mounts are reminiscent of the bureau plat by the latter, circa 1745-49, formerly in the Kotschoubey collection and now in the Louvre (A. Pradère, Les ébénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 174, fig. 156). They may also be seen as prototypes for the bureau pupitre à écrire debout attributed to Joseph and supplied in 1758 by the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux for the comte de Cobenzl (1712-1770), sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 84).
Joseph, like many of his fellow ébénistes by this time, including BVRB, worked extensively for the marchand-merciers of the period, such as Hébert and Lazare Duvaux, as well as for some of the great marchand-ébénistes such as Pierre II Migeon. The fact that none of these magnificent cabinets are stamped would make the intervention of a marchand in their commission extremely probable. Two pieces conceived in a similar vein to this pair of cabinets, both stamped by Migeon in his capacity as a dealer, include a marquetry cartonnier and a bois de bout marquetry commode from the Adby Collection, illustrated A. Pradère, op. cit, pp. 162 and 164, respectively.